This invention relates generally to bathroom accessories and more particularly concerns a noise suppression shield for a typical household toilet.
When men use a typical household toilet to urinate, splattering leaves the toilet area in an unpleasant and unsanitary condition and the noise of the urine stream hitting the water surface can be obnoxious to other dwellers in the household. The noise problem is exacerbated during nocturnal visits and when visitors are in the dwelling. A shield properly positioned in the bowl could assist in noise reduction and also reduce the splatter. Such a shield, however, could not be permanently located for obvious reasons. On the other hand, the need to position or reposition the shield would introduce new problems.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a household toilet splatter shield that will reduce splatter and noise during use of the toilet by men. Another object of this invention is to provide a household toilet splatter shield that is automatically repositioned in the toilet bowl in response to the repositioning of the toilet seat. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a household toilet splatter shield that is automatically positioned in an approximately vertical use position when the seat is in an up position. It is also an object of this invention to provide a household toilet splatter shield that is automatically positioned at an approximately vertical storage position at the side of the bowl when the seat is in a down position. Still another object of this invention is to provide a household toilet splatter shield that is easily adaptable for use in variously-shaped toilets. An additional object of this invention is to provide a household toilet splatter shield and target for training male children to always lift the toilet seat when urinating in a standing position. Another object of this invention is to provide a household toilet splatter shield that is self-cleaning during the normal toilet bowl flush operation.
In accordance with the invention, a shield is provided for a toilet on which a seat is hinged for rotation between a down position on the rim of the toilet bowl and an up position angularly displaced from the rim of the toilet bowl. A C-shaped flat clip is adapted to grip the rim of the toilet bowl at one side thereof. This clip may be held in place by spring pressure, by screw clamps, or by adhesives. The top surface of this clip is substantially flat, paralleling the top surface of the toilet rim. At the outboard edge of this clip is a hinge supporting a spring-biased lever that extends inward and downward into the bowl of the toilet, supporting on the distal end thereof a substantially strike pad for absorbing the impact of a urine stream impinging upon it, reducing noise and reducing splatter. The lever is engagable against the underside of the seat for downward displacement of the lever and thus the strike pad in response to force exerted on the lever by the underside of the seat during rotation of the seat into the down position. In this non-use position, the strike pad is close to the wall of the bowl, but above the normal water level therein. When the toilet is flushed, the water level rises and rinses the strike pad while fresh flush water entering the bowl from outlets under the rim contributes to this rinsing operation. When the seat is raised, it allows the biasing means of the lever to raise the lever away from the top surface of the clip and raises the strike pad away from the wall of the bowl into a use position, where it can be easily targeted by the man or boy during urination.